Cons:

The Witcher might be one of the best surprises of the year. CD Projekt has designed a mature, deep, meaty, thoughtful and downright fun role-playing game designed exclusively for the solo PC adventurer; no monthly fee required, thank you very much.

The Witcher is based on the books from Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski which have been translated into several languages (an English translation came out this year), and the world which he has created is realistic, grim, gritty and unforgiving. You play the role of Geralt of Rivia, an infamous Witcher who is suffering from a case of amnesia. Witchers are in essence professional monster hunters who make their livings taking on jobs eradicating evil, but are not themselves fully accepted by society. Witchers are mutants, sterile and immune to many of the dangers of normal society such as The Plague. With this comes a certain level of distrust.

The game nails the depressing and yet believable backdrop. The buildings look old and run down, the local inhabitants go about their routine, running inside when it rains, commenting on their mundane troubles, and so on. It's not uncommon to see a street beggar taking a whiz on the side of a building or hear a prostitute openly proposition. The language is equally gritty, but doesn't sound out of place. Sure, it might at first seem a tad odd that fantasy characters are dropping F-bombs during a conversation, but how else would the leader of a thug/pimping operation speak? Like Shakespeare?

In addition to the setting and language, the game uses a different and toned-down version of spellcasting. Spells are broken into five "signs," each of which focusing on a certain area of a magic like fire, force, safety, etc. To use a spell, Geralt expends Endurance, which drains quickly by constant use so while you can use spells in combat you are only going to be able to get a couple off during an encounter unless you are jacked up on potions.

Potions are crucial to success in the game; Geralt uses these to enhance abilities, see in the dark, regenerate health, slow down time, and all sorts of other nifty tricks. The catch is that you have to find the formula to make them and then track down the ingredients. More importantly, these potions are toxic and would kill a normal human. Geralt can suck down a few of them but then his toxicity level goes up, which prevents him from drinking as many as he may need.

Combat is brutal in The Witcher, and while you are going to need to use your two blades often (one for humans and a silver one for monsters) healing isn't as easy as it is in most RPGs. Sorry, no magic healing spells to bring you back to full health immediately. You will need the appropriate potions handy, which slowly regenerate health, or find a campfire so you can sleep it off. The game does a marvelous job of making you pay for fighting before you are fully prepared and especially when you are out in the wilderness away from the safety of an inn.

Combat is also timing-based. During the game's development there was the misconception that combat was a lot like the click-fest design of games like Diablo or Titan Quest. This could not be further from the truth. Geralt can use various combat styles such as Strong, Fast or Group to take on foes. During a fight he can string together combos by clicking the mouse when a flaming sword icon appears; if you click too soon or too late he messes up his attack and has to start all over again which can prove a lethal mistake when fighting particularly tough monsters. A slip up and you give the initiative back to the enemy. There is nothing in the game that allows you to frantically click the mouse to kill monsters. It's all-stat based and you can even pause the action to issue commands.